Another SLO County movie theater could soon serve alcohol. We’ll raise a glass to that

In a Galaxy not so far away — Atascadero, to be precise — a movie theater broke the ice in SLO County by becoming the first local cinema to put beer and wine on its menu.

And so a trend was born.

A few years after Galaxy Theatre in Atascadero started selling beer and wine, Downtown Center Cinemas in SLO began serving alcohol. Now, South County’s Regal Arroyo Grande Stadium 10 movie theater is asking the city for permission to offer beer and wine for sale.

And why not? If someone wants to sit in the dark, sipping merlot out of a plastic glass while watching “A Bad Moms Christmas,” who are we to deny them the pleasure?

After all, alcohol is served almost everywhere else these days — brunches, ball games, beauty salons. Movie theater operators shouldn’t be treated any differently, as long as they enforce appropriate measures to keep booze away from underage customers. (A box of brickbats coated in rancid popcorn butter and melted Milk Duds if they don’t.)

For those cinefiles worried about having the movie-going experience ruined by a bunch of boisterous drunks, don’t be. You’re far more likely to be bugged by a) the person two rows in front who won’t shut off his phone b) the kid with the bad case of sniffles sitting behind you c) the loud whisperer bragging about some remote connection to one of the lesser stars of the movie or d) the compulsive snacker who smuggled in a bag of peanuts — in the shell — and a box of candies individually wrapped in crinkly paper.

So go ahead, order that glass of wine, but as a courtesy to others, please save your toasts for the lobby. The other moviegoers may want to give their full attention to “Bad Moms.”

This story was originally published November 15, 2017 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Another SLO County movie theater could soon serve alcohol. We’ll raise a glass to that."